The following excerpt by T. Austin Sparks speaks bluntly about how evil spirits imitate God by letting people appear ‘holier’ than before they had come into touch with these cunning underlings of Satan. May we not think it is easy to discern the real Christian who is indwelt by Christ’s Spirit (cf. Rom 8:9) from the ‘Christian’ that is indwelt by these evil spirits that comport themselves as if they were beings of light. Sparks wrote,

“If this is the dispensation of the Spirit, this is the dispensation of the counterfeit of the Holy Spirit. What is the work of the Holy Spirit? Well, it is many-sided, but, beloved, the enemy can give false signs, which are an imitation of the signs of the Holy Spirit. The enemy can give false guidance which is an imitation of the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Experiences? Yes, you can have experiences, supernatural experiences, which are a counterfeit of the Holy Spirit. Teaching? Yes, teaching as from the Bible: doctrines of demons, false doctrine. But they would not be deceptions, delusions if they were not based upon Biblical content. Yes, imitating the Holy Spirit. Miracles, working great signs and wonders, calling down a fire from heaven to deceive them that are on the earth. Miracles, signs, wonders, power, yes, and even life, to give life unto the image, power to give life unto the image, and – now listen – conversions: apparent new birth, changing lives; and here we are on perhaps the most terrific ground when we say that. The question would at once arise: “Does the devil make men pure and turn men from godlessness to a life of God-interest?” “Does he really change men for the better?” Is that true? He will stand at nothing if he can get his ultimate end. If he can give you a false baptism of the Holy Spirit so that you have a wonderful experience, full of wonderful sensations, sublime sensations, and accompanied by remarkable gifts, powers, supernatural abilities…”

Is it imaginable that most people who call themselves Christians in the end times are being deceived? This apt description by T. Austin Sparks leaves no room for any ‘Christian’ area which has not yet been infiltrated by Satan. Where there is God, Satan follows also. Always. You know how quickly the devil could take hold of Peter after he had received this wonderful revelation by God Himself.

He [Jesus] said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ. From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” (Mt 16:15-23 ESV)

Dear reader, I need to admit that I am not able to rejoice, still, about writing on this abiding theme of discerning the spirits and of not allowing demons to speak. Neither do I gladly remove deceptive comments or links from my blog, or block former commenters who have fallen prey to delusion or deception. However, I have learned that obeying God in all things gives me His peace. From a human standpoint I often struggle with ‘rejecting’ people whom I basically like. But God is Lord and He alone knows why He commands what He commands. He always wants our good, even if He tells us to do things our natural man does not like to do. One of the most difficult things for me is to draw a line regarding commenters who say the right things on an intellectual level, however, I immediately sense that they do not really write from their own experiences. Instead, they pretend to have had spiritual experiences of which they have often read only. You may say, well, where is the problem if that which they describe is indeed the truth?

Brothers and sisters, here we return again to square one. Following Jesus also means we need to discern the spirits. If not, how can we clearly hear His voice between these many that are yelling at us every day? If a spirit behind a person is a wrong (evil) spirit, and this spirit makes a person lie to you by telling you ‘the truth’, would you ever trust such a one? Let’s just look at what did Jesus in such a situation. We read, “And demons also came out of many, crying, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ.” (Lk 4:41 ESV) From my own and often painful experience I can tell you that I know if I open a door to such a spirit, God will allow Satan to first attack me, then to confuse and weaken me, and eventually, if such a trial continues without me repenting by uncompromisingly drawing a line, I might find myself helplessly (!) captured and bound by spirits that pull me more and more away from Jesus Christ. Dear reader, this is no exaggeration on my part since I have learned these things the hard way. Just a small example on this.

About a week ago I detected a pingback (link) to my blog from another blog that would be unknown to me. These things happen at times and usually it is no big deal. Yet this time as I checked out this blog, I found a not-so-small-picture of one of my blog posts directly beneath a (hold on tight, sigh) witchcraft article on a website that promotes using spells in order to manipulate God. Ugh!! Although this site was obviously no Christian blog, the whole thing immediately reminded me of the Rhema Word of Faith movement with which I had come into contact in these years between 1995 and 2000 as I had been a member of a Christian cult. I cannot tell you how messed up I was as I had finally been enabled by God to leave the cult. Also, I needed so many years to get things clear in my mind again. Without God’s help, this confusion would still lie underneath and hinder me to see God as He really is: God is good, God is light, and last but not least, GOD IS LOVE. Regarding this witchcraft site, well, it was clear to me that I would not moderate this link to my blog, but alas, I forgot to trash it at once. Therefore, for a few days these ideas about witchcraft were lingering on my mind although I had hardly read anything on this blog. Yet there was such a strong pull I felt that I really needed God’s help to eventually delete this link permanently and to not check out this site anymore. I want to close with some verses from apostle John who would leave the following warning for us as he said,

“For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward. Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works.” (2 Jn 7-11 ESV)

Advertisements

If you like it, share this:

Like this:

Related

Post navigation

71 thoughts on “Counterfeit Spirits”

Discerning the spirits is ever more urgent. I have fallen to all sorts of demonic traps. Though I consider I am one of the Lord’s sheep, many times I have heard other voices, sincerely believing it was the Lord. And you’re right about drawing the line with people. Your post speaks to me about a person that up to now I didn’t know if it was a “godsend” or not… Well, perhaps she wasn’t sent by God after all, though some of the things she said to me were helpful. 😦

And witchcraft… Wow, that’s a big issue today. The only way we can learn to discern properly is to submit absolutely to the Lordship of Jesus. If we are HIS, we will hear His voice. If we don’t fully belong to Him, we will get confused and be blinded and sidetracked.

Yes, they can. 😦 I pray daily for discernment because I’m a very clumsy sheep!

Can I share a bit of my story? I was born to a Roman Catholic family and was miraculously delivered from bondage after an extremely painful experience which left huge scars (to cut it short, after a huge attack I now see as demonic rather than psychologic, a psychiatrist had me on meds for about a year). The demons I was oppressed by at that time scared me out of any spiritual search for about 3 years. Then after a breakup with the godly man who is now my husband, we both were brought to a seeker-sensitive church where the gospel was hardly ever preached. However, at a “cell group” meeting, I did get encouraged to read the Bible and it was in that private times with God that He opened my eyes and I saw myself wretched and horrible. The same Lord gave me a hunger for Him and for His truths, and in less than a year I was out of that church because, using the Bible mostly, God showed me the deception of Word of Faith doctrines.

Unfortunately, it was out of the frying pan into the fire… Because the church we ended up in was one in the apostolic/prophetic movement. And it took longer for us to be delivered from that one (about 7 years). Although we did see some things that were wrong from the very beginning, we didn’t get our eyes really opened to the hidden things (they were much less obvious in this case) until our pastor fell into deep sin and apostasy and almost everyone left.

My point is, if you really belong to the Lord, you may be deceived, but EVENTUALLY you will come out of that deception. And sometimes the Lord allows you to be deceived temporarily because 1) He wants to show you that you’re not fully under His lordship; there may be open doors in your life that you need to close, hidden sins that need to be repented of; 2) because He wants you to know how painful it is to become deceived so that you will have mercy for those who have unwittingly fallen to deception and pray for them; and 3) because He may want you to warn others against deception.

I believe the lordship of Jesus over our lives is essential and our best safeguard against deception. If we abide in Him, if we abide in what He has said, if we daily die to our flesh, take up our cross and follow Him, it will be much easier for the Holy Spirit to lead us to “all truth” (and knowing the true will help us discern the counterfeit!).

May we continue to learn true discernment and wisdom that comes from God!

So, you you belonged to the RCC as well and know the Word of Faith stuff, too? What a coincidence! 😉

I like this. You wrote,

“My point is, if you really belong to the Lord, you may be deceived, but EVENTUALLY you will come out of that deception. And sometimes the Lord allows you to be deceived temporarily because 1) He wants to show you that you’re not fully under His lordship; there may be open doors in your life that you need to close, hidden sins that need to be repented of; 2) because He wants you to know how painful it is to become deceived so that you will have mercy for those who have unwittingly fallen to deception and pray for them; and 3) because He may want you to warn others against deception.”

Especially point 3 is the one that God made alive to me. However, I know that I can only warn others. The power to set ppl bound by evil sprits completely free must come from the Lord Himself.

What you said about abiding in Him reminded me of these verses where Jesus also said,

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.
These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.” (Jn 15:9-14 ESV)

Being His friends and loving Him by following His commands go together. If our joy in Him grows continually, we might be on the right path.

Carina and Susanne, I also have been deceived and got involved in two Christian cults as well as a few churches where authority was abusive. Believe me “the very elect can be deceived” but they can also be delivered by the grace of God, but not without “stripes.”

“And that servant, who knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomever much is given, of him shall be much required…” (Luke 12:47-48, KJ2000)

I don’t mean an actual flogging, but rather suffering for a season from cause and effect of our ignorance and stupidity. When blind guides lead the blind they both eventually fall into a ditch, but ditches filled with effluent (as it was in ancient Israel and in much of the third world today) can be very instructive.

Carina, I agree with all three of your points as how God uses these experiences in our lives and have experienced them in action in mine. You wrote, ” 1) He wants to show you that you’re not fully under His lordship; there may be open doors in your life that you need to close, hidden sins that need to be repented of.” Sometimes we were involved in things in the past that gave Satan an open door into our hearts and drugs (those mind altering ones both prescribed as well as illegal ones) as well as dabbling in the occult and eastern religions can leave gaping holes for him to walk through and deceive us. All these things of the past need to be repented and prayed over for Christ to close that door and heal us.

I also agree with your item two. We all need to experience certain things where we have judged others so that we finally have some mercy for those who are caught up in them.

And Item three… once we have received His mercy and suffered from our own pitfalls, we can tenderly warn others about the dangers of what they are getting into without coming across as being self-righteous about it.

I get confused a lot. Is it bad that some times I wonder if I am a sheep. I think I am but I do get confused. I am at times lead astray and then lead back so I guess that does mean I am one of his. I pray a lot on making sure I am a true sheep. I hope a prayer like that is not a bad thing. I am just very scared on being a goat and not a sheep.

You are a sheep, Fred. The goats do not think about whether they could be wrong or not. They are very self-secure ppl who do not need God’s help. Maybe, my other reply to you could clarify where your confusion could stem from.

I clicked on the link under the pic of the false revival in Brasil in 2013 and was directed to a site which refused to let me return to your blog or my WordPress Reader. The site is, indeed,about false anointing and false revival, and I think probably it would be better, for our computers if not for our souls, if the pic and link were not there.

Your wish was my command because you are right, Louise. Could be pretty confusing to dwell on this stuff I had linked. Problem is, whenever I post a pic not taken by me, I must give credits and put a link to their site because of copyright. But honestly, I was not that happy, neither with that pic nor with that link. Thanks for carefully listening to Him, dear sister. ❤

This is very scary. I my self made a mistake. I got involved in the Rhema word of Faith movement my self. I recently took a trip to one of their schools. I think I am still having some issues from going down there although talking to Michael via email was helpful (and was feeling fine the next day) as I was scared after I allowed them to lay their hands on me and teach me to speak in tongues. I felt like I had done something very wrong. I am getting to the point where I have no idea who to trust and that scares me.
The worst part about that is I think I was being told no before I allowed them to do it. Why do I keep doing these things? I have been praying a lot today and I need so much help on that.

As I was lately fed up with writing blog articles, the Lord pointed me last week to this excerpt by Sparks. However, I honestly told him that I did NOT want to write about false baptism and falsely speaking in tongues any longer. Then I forgot about it until I got a confirmation regarding this from Michael Clark, and eventually I read your response to him on A Wilderness Voice. At that moment I knew I had to go on with writing about these things.

This confusion you so often experience, Fred, might spring from these different spirits with which you have come into contact, either there (Rhema Word of Faith stuff) or on the net elsewhere. As you might have sensed already, they can have a strong pull on you, either on your heart (contradictory feelings) or on your mind when you cannot get rid of thinking about this and that. Problem is, spirits work through people. And sometimes we might like these people and do not want to disappoint them. Then the devil has an easy job with us. As soon as we submit to the will of other people more than to this first, subtle, and small voice that warned us, we sometimes need to fall into the ditch and experience the destructive power of the evil one in our own souls. This is certainly not the best way (been there, done that), however, it helps to NEVER go back again afterwards.

Hi Fred!
I know exactly what you mean. I’ve been there too and have agonized thinking I may not be His!
You said: “I have no idea who to trust and that scares me.” Two passages have helped me get God’s understanding on this trust issue:

One is Psalm 118. I copy only the most relevant verses but the whole Psalm is helpful.8 It is better to trust in the Lord
Than to put confidence in man.
9 It is better to trust in the Lord
Than to put confidence in princes.

Lesson # 1: Do not be impressed by the size of a “ministry”. Though in the current church world certain people may be considered huge (“princes”), this has nothing to do with the fruit Jesus told us to examine.

The other passage that has helped me is in Jeremiah 17, and I will quote a few verses:“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
And whose hope is the Lord.
8 For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters,
Which spreads out its roots by the river,
And will not fear when heat comes;
But its leaf will be green,
And will not be anxious in the year of drought,
Nor will cease from yielding fruit.
9 “The heart is deceitful above all things,
And desperately wicked;
Who can know it?
10 I, the Lord, search the heart,
I test the mind,
Even to give every man according to his ways,
According to the fruit of his doings.

Should we trust people? Only to the degree that their words match up Scripture and what the Holy Spirit shows us. Galatians 5 lists can help, too. For example, if I discern a person’s life matches the first list, “the works of the flesh”, rather than the second, “the fruit of the Spirit”, I tend to discard or take the person’s words with a pinch of salt.

Should we trust OURSELVES? Most definitely not! We CAN be deceived, even if we are truly His sheep (but if we are His, he will EVENTUALLY come seek us and rescue us from false beliefs). My conviction, however, is that the more we trust GOD and rely on Him (and men, only “conditionally”) and repent of falling prey to human and demonic traditions and doctrines, and the more we seek HIM as the source of truth, the more open our eyes will be and the less we will fall for these deceptions.

As for trusting ourselves and/or others, I was reminded of a not-so-long blog article I wrote in 2015 which includes a devotional by Oswald Chambers. If you, Fred, or anyone else wants to check it out, here is the link.

Carina, God has had me reading these two Bible passages you shared recently as well. Thank God for sending His Son to take not only our sins, but our old man also with Him on the cross and free us by His grace and mature us to walk as His sons and daughters who walk together in the Light as He is in the Light. I just wish it didn’t take a lifetime and many pitfalls to get there.

Susanne,
A word recently received from the Lord helped me with what you have written. It’s found in Romans 16:25-27, “Now to Him who is able. (Other renderings read Now to Him Who has the power) to establish (Gk. Set consistently) you”. He is our Shepherd with all of what is needed to keep me on the path according to His will and purpose. A true Shepherd totally protects the flock, we may veer from the flock and take our eyes off Him for a while or be in a place that we dimly hear His voice, but He will seek us out and set us securely back on the path. Please read all of verses mentioned as the key is Christ in us. Love in Christ, Don

Yes, Don, a true Shepherd indeed protects the flock and if we are indwelt by His Spirit, no one can snatch us out of His hand. Nonetheless, we need to come to the end of our rope in all areas of life so that we eventually do not trust in our own plans nor in the guidance of men any longer. This is so hard to accept and learn for our old nature!

In Christ’s love, Susanne

PS
Just read the Scripture you shared. It hit me how much the verses 17 and 18 fit, too.

“Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them who cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the innocent.” (Rom 16:17-18, KJ2000)

Yes, Susanne it surely does apply to these. “Mark them that cause divisions!” Many pastors with their many pastures all divided and fenced in with dire warnings posted to not venture outside of them. “For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the innocent.” Wow! It was there right under our noses all the time and we never saw it.

I cannot tell you how glad I am to be FINALLY beginning to understand this!!!
I’ve been in bondage for so many years and didn’t know why there was so much darkness in me. Frankly, I sensed that if the Holy Spirit brought light on the deepest recesses of my soul, ugly things would come out. And sure enough, it was as horrible as I expected, or even more so! But I feel freer now that I’ve come to terms with reality as if was, not as my illusions wanted it to be (I loved your article on disillusionment, Suzanne!)

The Lord brought new light on a few verses I’d read so many times but hadn’t fully grasped from Romans 1:

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.

Idolatry of self and of fellow men is ungodly and unrighteous. We don’t like to hear what God has to say about our fallen selves, so we suppress the truth. We justify ourselves. Even though God is manifestly huge, which is evident from His creation and His dealings with us, we still seek excuses not to believe Him fully. We take the parts we like and discard the rest. We believe we have wisdom because we have memorized a few Bible verses, prayed the prayers, gone to “church”, even made shallow confessions. But if we are still seeking our own glory, we are still in the dark!

When we allow this idolatry of self and men to take root in us, horrible things happen!Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them up to vile passions…

Now when Paul continues this passage, he gives the example of homosexuality, and this has caused many of us to perhaps miss the point of the passage. Because when you’re an idolater, uncleanless and lusts will manifest in your life, whether it is in sexual sin or any other kind of sin. Having an unclean heart will first of all prevent you from seeing God, which is bad enough! but, not seeing God, since you’re an idolater, you will make a god in your own image… And we have seen and suffered the effects of this! The rest of Romans 1 gives an ugly description of the kind of individual who has hardened his or her soul against the truth.

Perhaps all this talk about the need of human shepherds with their many divided and divisive flocks in the churches would take a back seat if we understood in our hearts what Jesus said here…

“I AM THE GOOD SHEPHERD, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knows me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, AND THEY SHALL HEAR MY VOICE; AND THERE SHALL BE ONE FOLD, AND ONE SHEPHERD.” (John 10:14-16, KJ2000)

Yes, I read that, too, Michael. I understood it as a promise given by Jesus that referred to the future as He proclaimed it…. ‘other sheep I HAVE’ (the eternal NOW)…..’they SHALL HEAR my voice’. He will make Himself heard by all of us whom He has chosen. Not that we ever chose Him…

I agree, Susanne. David said it very clearly in Psalm 23, “The LORD is my Shepherd. I shall not want…” While in organized religion so many of us were looking to men for what only Jesus could provide. How often I heard phrases like this as they referred to pastors, “I’m not being fed by him.” We were all looking to the wrong shepherd and as a result we hopped from church to church looking for what could only be found within the Spirit of Christ abiding in us. In all fairness, this put an undo burden on and frustrated church pastors as well. It would do well for us all to meditate on these words…

“And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it sees him not, neither knows him: but you know him; for he dwells with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.” (John 14:16-18, KJ2000)

“I have yet many things to say unto you, but you cannot bear them now. But when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you. All things that the Father has are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall show it unto you.” (John 16:12-15, KJ2000)

Michael, after reading a few devotionals by TAS that did not speak to me before going to bed (zzzzz), I found this first paragraph from Oswald Chambers’ daily devotional (emphasis in italics mine). He wrote,

Our Lord told us how our love for Him is to exhibit itself when He asked, “Do you love Me?” (John 21:17). And then He said, “Feed My sheep.” In effect, He said, “Identify yourself with My interests in other people,” not, “Identify Me with your interests in other people.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 shows us the characteristics of this love— it is actually the love of God expressing itself. The true test of my love for Jesus is a very practical one, and all the rest is sentimental talk.

I totally love the passages you have quoted, Michael! And share your concern about the immaturity of us sheep. Some of us have learned through many stripes, that’s so true!
The Lord brought me to Jeremiah 10 today.
Hear this:

Woe is me for my hurt!
My wound is severe.
But I say, “Truly this is an infirmity,
And I must bear it.”

We must accept the Lord’s correction. For us to get true healing, we must hear the Heavenly Doctor’s diagnosis. This is not a minor issue. The wound is severe. A cancerous disease that has almost destroyed the body of Christ (but praise the Lord, He has reserved for Himself a remnant, and the doors of Hades will not prevail against His true sheep!). We must accept that this disease of apostasy, of idolatry of men (first and foremost, of ourselves!) is present in us, and is indeed serious! And we must not attempt to remove ourselves from His correction, we must not beg for God to bring us out of His consuming fire until the impurities have been removed.

O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself;
It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.
O Lord, correct me, but with justice;
Not in Your anger, lest You bring me to nothing.

We must get back to our first love, Jesus. We must abide in His presence, read His words again, let them sink in, repent and obey. We must earnestly desire the Holy Spirit’s cleansing power, for indeed there’s a lot of unlearning we need to do!

He is very merciful and patient, and He will give us a pure heart if we fervently desire and pray for His name to be hallowed, His Kingdom to be manifested, and His will to be done in our individual lives!

This thread has been heart searching for me. We understand how God has had to let us suffer from our own bad choices and motives in life, but why, to destroy us? NO! But rather to heal us. Sometimes He has to wound us and cut open a boil and purge it so that we will heal (see Hosea 6:1-2). Susanne quoted Chambers as Christ saying to us,

“Identify yourself with My interests in other people,” not, “Identify Me with your interests in other people.”

Wow! Does that hit the nail on the head for me! Please bare with me while I try to be honest and transparent (our hearts are SO deceitful). I was one who tried for years to become part of the “in crowd” in the churches. I saw those powerful men who stand before the people with church titles and wanted to be one of them. I “identified Christ with MY interests in other people” instead of “identifying myself with Christ’s interests in them.” What a near miss! So close, yet so far away from His heart. Thank God that He made sure that the very men I wanted to imitate reject me or I would have been one of them to this very day, beating my fellow servants. I did get close enough to the inner circle in many cases to see how this passage applies…

But if that servant says in his heart, My lord delays his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidservants, and to eat and drink, and to be drunk; The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looks not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in pieces, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. And that servant, who knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more. (Luke 12:45-48, KJ2000)

I should have known better, but I was deluded by “visions of my own greatness.” I had become my own idol as I idolized other men in ministry. So, when they turned on me, I turned on them, too. “Don’t touch my precious you nasty Hobits!” Much of what I have written in the past has been “anti-church” in nature. Why? Could it be that I hated what I saw there in that system because it was in me?

Susanne, you have been used of the Lord with a few short phrases from God from time to time to get me to look deeper into my own heart regarding these things and I thank Him for what He has done in my life through you as He has bid us to be transparent with one another.

Carina, thank you for what you have been sharing on here as well from your own experiences. Your transparency has made me look deeper into my own darkness. You too, Don M.

Michael, I am very thankful to God, too, for nudging us to become completely transparent with one another. No hypocrisy, no masks, and no pretending any longer.

Strangely enough, this morning I read on my daily Catholic 😉 kitchen calendar a part of one verse of the Scriptures you shared here. I read (in German, of course), “For unto whomever much is given, of him shall be much required.” Period.

What might that mean? It seems to me that John of the Cross in his ‘Dark Night of the Soul’ (esp. the second part that refers to purifying the spiritual part of our souls) expressed it well as he said that the darkness of the night is all the more deeper and the night longer, the higher God wants to draw the soul to Himself. I recall that John also identified going through the second part of the night (which only a few must according to him) with receiving a much greater ‘ministry’ (he called it apostolate). Looking at John’s life, we could see as it was in apostle Paul’s or T. A. Sparks’ spiritual outworking of their calls, their influence has become much greater AFTER their death. This fact really displays the greatness of a call! And think about our Lord Jesus!! All alone as He died, but no man on earth could ever deny His influence on this world, whether they like Him or not.

Our old nature always wants to live its best life now. If it is the eternal now, the spiritual life in Christ, no problem. But whatever we try to manage apart from His Spirit will always be detrimental for our spiritual life. Therefore some chastening by the Lord is necessary until we finally ‘got it’.

Here is a quote from today’s TAS devotional. At first it did not speak to me, but as I read your comment, my brother, it began to make sense. TAS said,

“I have loved THEE, with an everlasting love.” May God Himself bring that home to us with something of its implication, something of its meaning and value, its glory, its wonder. If He should graciously do that, we shall be worshipers for the rest of our lives; there will be something about us that is in the nature of awe and wonder and we shall go softly. The realization of it will smite all our pride to the dust. There is no room for pride here. This will remove all those horrible things – pride, avarice, covetousness, self-interest, worldly ambition – and we shall be very humble, very grateful people, full of a great longing somehow to requite that love, somehow to win for that One His rights.”

I don’t think so, Fred. You need to work as a minister for God in order to be able to tyrannize other people. Maybe, this short commentary beneath the Scripture can help explain Matthew 24:49 KJV which says,

“And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken.”

“Smite his fellow-servants … – This is the conduct of a wicked servant, who, supposing he would not be called to account, and abusing his authority, gave himself up to oppression, carousing, and debauchery. It is designed to represent the conduct of ministers who are unfaithful and overbearing, and who abuse their trust in the church.”

Oh, my dear sister Susanne! You have touched on so many things of great importance in your reply to me. Where to start?

Jesus said, “I have loved you with an everlasting love.” He knew us from the foundation of creation when God said, “Let us make man in our image and in our likeness.” At that moment the Word of God spoke us into existence in His great heart. Then we read that He knows our end from the beginning and “My counsel will stand, I shall do my pleasure” (Isa. 46:9-10)! And what was His great pleasure from the beginning?

“Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him [Jesus]; he has put him to grief: when you shall make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring, he shall prolong his days, and the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. He shall see the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.” (Isa 53:10-11, KJ2000)

What a deep spiritual truth this is! He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end not only in the universe, but in our very lives. Who can resist His great love that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him would not perish but have His everlasting life in them as well?

Then there is this matter you wrote about,

“Looking at John’s life, we could see as it was in apostle Paul’s or T. A. Sparks’ spiritual outworking of their calls, their influence has become much greater AFTER their death.”

Couple this with what Isaiah prophesied about Jesus, “He shall see his offspring… He shall see the travail [child bearing] of his soul, and shall be satisfied.” Jesus gives us spiritual birth from deep inside of Him. This is how we are “born of the Spirit.”

Oh how we hate to wait, especially we Americans. We want it right now and we want it “biggy sized.” How much more this is true about wanting to see the fruit of our “ministries.” But for God and His Son, they have waited so long to see the mature fruit of what it means for us to be IN Christ and for that harvest to come into fruition. Yet, they know that that fruit will come because it abides in Him. Yes, dear Susanne, it seems that the fruit that remains becomes ripe AFTER we pass from this earthly existence as it did with Jesus and Paul and John and even John of the Cross and T. A. Sparks! All we can do now is rest in Him and let Him speak and act through us. This gives me a deeper meaning to, “For unto whomever much is given, of him shall be much required.” 🙂

Yes, “He loves and HAS LOVED US with an EVERLASTING LOVE.” Oh, the depths of the power working in us of this kind of love both now and for eternity! Jesus, Let your everlasting love work in me so that this will be true, “there will be something about us that is in the nature of awe and wonder and we shall go softly,” (1) Amen.

In His great eternal love for who you are and who HE is in YOU, dear Susanne,
Michael

Michael and Susanne,
What you’ve shared here is very deep, and your personal confessions speak to my heart. I have to say, sadly, I understand you, for I have committed the same sins.
For the last month and a half, the Holy Spirit has been bringing light in many “dark places”. It’s like entering a room that was closed for a long time. Spider webs and bugs, and a bad smell that makes you want to vomit! But at the same time, He has been so very sweet and patient.
He has shown me, in no uncertain terms, that I’ve been a hypocrite. It’s easy to read Matthew 23 and think of other people! But when the Lord points the finger back at you, it’s very uncomfortable.
I’ve been self-righteous and judgmental, unmerciful and unloving. Many times, what I criticized in others were the very things I was doing all along.
I’ve been full of envy and jealousy. Of other’s people’s material possessions and successes, but also of other people’s achievements. I envied the fact that other people could write great books even when they didn’t know God, and I, who supposedly knew Jesus, could not realize my dream of writing my novel (which was always at the back of my mind as an unfulfilled dream which caused endless frustration and carnal fretting).
I’ve been shamefully guilty of self-love and pride. Many times, I’ve considered myself better, more spiritual than other “ignorant” Christians.
If there is anyone who deserves to be beat up with lots of stripes, that would be me!!!
But even when God hits me, hand in hand with His chastisements I receive encouragement, words of love and Biblical affirmation, words of restoration and hope.
Through many afflictions and tribulations, the Lord has taught me (I’m a slow learner in this area, sadly!) to be more humble and meek. I still need many more lessons in the school of John 3:30 (He must increase, but I must decrease). But He never ceases to repeat the lessons I didn’t quite grasp. Painful, but necessary!

The description of your latest experiences with God during the last about six weeks reminds me of the Bible verse that says, “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Lk 18:14 ESV)

Everyone who has been used to take up his cross daily will know from their own experiences what you were talking about in your comment. Somehow your words reminded me of a poem I wrote last year. It starts this way:

As long as there are dreams and wishes
Unfulfilled
And burning pain that cuts all through to
Get us killed
We have not yet arrived where
Freedom reigns
And only peace of mind with
Joy remains…

Thanks you for sharing your life and death with us dear Carina. I think that the most “dangerous,” yet in the long run, freeing prayer I ever prayed was, “Father show me how YOU see me, not how I THINK You see me.” Well, He did and man was it ugly. I saw that I was full of “spiritual” pride and loving all the attention I was getting from the Christians that I knew as I strutted my “giftedness” before them. Finally, I asked Him to kill all this pride in me and at one point He almost had to kill me to do it. You can read about that period in my life here. It starts about the 7th paragraph down:http://www.awildernessvoice.com/ThirtyYears.html

BUT there is His Light that comes upon us at the end of these times when we see just how dark our darkness is and totally throw ourselves on His mercy and plead for Him to do what it takes to change us from our darkness into the glorious Light of His Son. “Faithful is He who has called you and He will do it.”

Dear Michael,
I’ve just read your testimony and, boy, I can relate! I hope I don’t need to almost die (again! I had a near-death experience at 21 when I almost lost my sanity and could have died if I hadn’t known God was somehow with me!) to have pride unrooted. Pride is like a monster with countless heads. 😦

But I don’t want my pride to have a near-death experience. I want it to really die. Whatever it takes… :S

If it wasn’t for His amazing mercy, there would be no hope for any of us. After Romans 7, we have Romans 8. 🙂

This was very helpful to me in regard to certain readers who have “liked” and “pinged” a number of my posts. In one instance, in particular, the other blogger began writing first in what sounded like a very humble tone. He then veered off into what I can only describe as an intensely obscene description of his life and his “faith” experiences. It was deeply unsettling.

A few other bloggers, over the years, have simply struck me as unbalanced. I think it wise to keep my distance, in such cases.

Yuk, what an ugly experience you had, Anna!! 😦 I came to know a few of these seemingly ‘humble’ commenters, too. And I do remember how very uncomfortable, even threatened, I felt when I finally realized what kind of persons they really were. OUCH! Deeply unsettling, indeed!!

Yes! Unbalanced bloggers I know as well. Meanwhile I not only keep a distance, I eventually blocked them which was very difficult for me because I had been driven by compassion for their mental diseases in the beginning. Knowing bipolar disease from my own experience, for example, I even thought I had to almost ‘save’ and always understand them. But God wanted me to draw a clear line. And thus I have peace with Him again today. However, it was a long and very unsettling period on the net as I had some mentally sick people writing on my blogs and mailing me. And I had not even known that I myself (!) had opened the door to these evil spirits that drove them to say things that should have remained unsaid (you might remember Do Not Allow Demons To Speak).

“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:

And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world” (1 John 4: 1-3).

Anna and Susanne, “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” These poor souls might start out “confessing” Jesus is the Christ to get a foot in the door of our blogs, but eventually they get around to what is really in their hearts and manifest.

Confessing that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh takes on scope. Yes, Jesus the Messiah was born into a human body, but what really matters is if HE has been born into OUR bodies as well and “come” into our flesh! If He has, we will point people away from ourselves and to Him who is our source of Life. The things of our past should eventually grow strangely dim as He fills us with His presence. Yes, we can learn from them, but they no longer are our identity, but HE IS. As Isaiah put it,

“Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.” (Isa 9:6-7, KJ2000)

Great Scriptures, guys!
After reading your comment, Anna, I received another passage which I believe shares more light on this topic.

1 Corinthians 12: 2-3 You know that you were Gentiles, carried away to these dumb idols, however you were led. Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.

I was just thinking that truth brought by the Holy Spirit glorifies Christ, not only as Savior, but also as Lord. It brings a true sense of humility, which is not affectation, not a fake varnish of modesty. It highlights His righteousness, His holiness, as opposed to my uncleanliness, my need for forgiveness. His light brings my darkness to the surface and gives me conviction of sin and a true desire for Him to change me.

So if we want to know if a “new” teaching, idea, or personal direction comes from the Lord, a good starting point would be to ask ourselves… Does this glorify Christ and recognize He needs to be the absolute ruler over my every thought, feeling and action? Does this humble me? Does this make me more aware of my need for more grace? If the answer to any of these questions is NO, we could ask God if there is ANY truth in what we’ve heard or felt, any grain of truth that we can take which the devil subtly distorted. Like Paul said, we are to “Test all things; hold fast what is good”. If we don’t have peace about any of what we’ve heard, we can discard the message or direction completely, and ask for God to help us close any doors the devil tried to open through it.

I have found that the more I allowed Father to expose the carnal mind about how I relate to Him, myself, and others the clearer His voice continues to become… like removing static from a radio signal. I have found one of the reasons Christians are so easily deceived is that satan feeds on our hurts and wounds.. we try to find worth and validation in… something… anything.. other than Him having clothed us in His righteousness and love.

He has a lot of work to still do in me.. but I am finding the more I share how much Dad loves us, the less a child of God turns to these idols.

For some, it is a long time of counseling and the Holy Spirit healing from the inside. A fractured soul needs much time and watering. This was one of the draws of the perversion found in the “word of faith” movement. It played on the brokenness in His children’s hearts… whcih leads to greed, pride and just plain weirdness.

“I have found one of the reasons Christians are so easily deceived is that satan feeds on our hurts and wounds.. we try to find worth and validation in… something… anything.. other than Him having clothed us in His righteousness and love.”

I’m still struggling with this issue of finding my self-worth in God and only in Him. Part of the culprit is the self-esteem teaching we have been fed on since we were little children, and unfortunately, self-esteem is preached in many churches more than Christ-esteem.

When we “come to church” with our wounds, many don’t know any better than to say, “God loves you! Ask Him to heal your wounds.” and provide affirmation with superficial truths at best. However, when the word of the cross is absent (Christ’s cross + the cross WE need to take), this is like applying band-aid on a cancerous wound. We need to learn to seek affirmation and acceptance in God… And when we get it, it’s not based on any good thing we have done beforehand. He loved us while we were yet sinners, saved us when we were enemies of the cross, and has been extremely patient with us in our rebelliousness. We were worthless, and yet, He considered us precious and gave His son in sacrifice for us. We didn’t and never will deserve it, yet He loves us with everlasting love.

Amen, Carina. One of the hardest parts for me, was to reconcile that in myself I am worthless… but in His eyes, priceless. He has clothed us in Himself. Without being able to surround ourselves with like-minded brothers/sisters it makes it that much harder to embrace His love over us… my favorite of all parables is the wayward son… when i begin to lose sight of His love over me.. I go back to this and I can feel His love re-focus my eyes on Him. He has His hands full with me, that is for sure… Great to know He isn’t going anywhere, huh? 🙂

David, I know my approach might not be the same as yours because I believe that God basically created man as a very good being (cf. Gen 1) However, woman and man decided to no longer obey God and do their own thing instead. Therefore also this trouble about not being able to love ourselves (you know, love God and your neighbors as yourselves). If you have time (and I recall you do not have that much), here are a few of my thoughts on this topic.

Hi Susanne! I have read the 2014 entry and the comments and I would like to weigh in with some thoughts on this.

You were very clear in separating God’s love on the one hand, with our performance on the other. And yet, when David mentions the story of the prodigal son, something strikes me in that story.

When you read the parable, it is very clear that the Father loved the prodigal son all along. When the son decided to walk away, the Father didn’t say, I still love you, but now that you’re leaving, I love you less.

And yet, the SON’s experience of the Father’s love diminished when he left. Or rather, to that point, he had never been aware of how much his dad loved him (that’s why he left!). I would suggest, based on my own experience as I’ve been a “serial backslider”, that though God loves me all along throughout my backslidings, I in my fallenness can get to a point when sin prevents me seeing how God loves me.

Psalms 16:11 You will show me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

When I’m being wilfully disobedient, I deny this truth and cannot experience it. When I choose the lesser pleasures of sin, when I sow to the flesh, a death, a separation, takes place.

Matthew 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
For they shall see God.

When I allow my heart to be filled with different impurities, little by little I lose sight of God, and as I enthrone my “natural self”, my understanding is darkened, and I cannot experience real joy.

John 15:9-12 As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

Notice the connection between true, abiding love in the Son, obedience, and fullness of joy.

In your 2014 post, you quoted 1 Corinthians 13. This passage contains the following verse: [LOVE] does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth.

Does God love us when we’re blatantly disobedient, unruly, and faithless? The testimony of Scripture is clear. HE DOES! Then why does He call us to change? Because our personal experience of that unconditional love will look totally different when we admit that our old self needs to die, the old wineskin needs to be broken so that we can receive all the new wine with its fullness of joy.

I need to admit that I do not want to join in such long comment threads anymore. Therefore I took an internet break yesterday in order to spend more time with God and it was really good for me. Lately I have been learning to more and more listen to His subtle and small voice that nudged me to leave the internet and other distractions in order to get closer to Him and I believe I will continue to do so. Obedience to His voice is truly necessary and wraps us in His permanent peace.

Sorry, I forgot to add something important.
Michael, the other day I was thinking of your 30-year testimony, and how my experience in many senses is similar to yours. And I was thinking of Susanne’s references to the “dark night of the soul”. The Lord nudged me to read Psalm 139 again.
When I was 16, I participated in a Catholic retreat. As we were listening to older sisters give short talks or discussing in small groups, a member of the team would put a photocopy in our bedroom so we would read when we were alone. I don’t remember much of the talks or group discussions, but God dealt with me so deeply in those moments I was alone with Him. One of the photocopies I received was Psalm 139, which speaks to my ever wandering heart perhaps more than any other passage in Scripture.

Just a few verses.
Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me.
If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,”
even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you.

When we have experienced His love, our experience in backsliding will be similar to David’s. Deep down, though drowned by the voices of self-condemnation, and the many voices tempting us to drift even further, there is that still, small voice of the Holy Spirit, the loving voice of the Good Shepherd, the eternal voice of the Father, saying, My son, my daughter. I love you. Come back to me!

I also believe all that God created and touches is very good. At times, it may be difficult for me to articulate a full thought without becoming verbose ( I try to stay on point which can be a challenge for me ) but I suppose I should have clarified my belief that all that is of Him and touched by His righteousness is clean and good.

Verbose… That’s so definitely me. Sorry, guys.
I somehow hope some of what I shared will help, because it came from my seeking heart.
Susanne, I can definitely relate with that need for “me time” with God. What He can teach us in those moments is definitely much deeper than what we can learn from each other.
Thank you!

Carina, thanks for your comment to me. These verses about God and darkness are very encouraging when we feel He has left us alone out in a spiritual night. Thank God I can say that for those who He calls, our darkness will finally become His Light for He is teaching to walk by faith and not by sight. He is always there even though at times we cannot sense Him in any way.

You’re welcome, Michael.
I would also like to (briefly!) share a word the Lord gave me yesterday. It’s in Psalms 105:16-22.

Basically, the Lord is asking us to accept His dealings with us. I have come to see our life stories much like Joseph’s. The more we allow God’s hand to humble us, the more deliverance we find from the prison of self, and the more God can use us to minister to others, and bring true spiritual food (that is, point people to Jesus) at a time where many are going hungry.

I love you all in the Lord and pray that we will increase in all true knowledge and wisdom. 🙂

The Community

Spam Blocked

FEAR NOT…

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him."
(John 3:16-17 ESV)

Follow Blog via Email

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.